Meraki Dashboard and Cisco DNA Center compete in the network management category. While Meraki Dashboard is favored for small to medium-sized businesses due to its simplicity and cloud management features, Cisco DNA Center is more suitable for large-scale enterprises, offering enhanced security and integration options.
Features: Meraki Dashboard is noted for its ease of use with cloud management, multilayer filtering, and integrated analytics. It is particularly suitable for small to medium-sized businesses. Cisco DNA Center provides robust tools ideal for larger networks, enhanced AI-driven security features, and seamless integration with Cisco infrastructure, making it comprehensive for enterprise-level needs.
Room for Improvement: Meraki Dashboard users point out licensing issues, costly pricing, and configuration complexity. Cisco DNA Center users criticize it for high costs and deployment complexities, including upgrade challenges, while also highlighting a need for better integration capabilities and improved reporting features.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Meraki Dashboard offers straightforward cloud-based deployment across public and private environments, although users report mixed experiences with customer support, particularly regarding wait times. Cisco DNA Center, being primarily on-premises, poses deployment challenges requiring technical expertise. However, its technical support is well-regarded for responsiveness and effectiveness.
Pricing and ROI: Meraki Dashboard follows a subscription-based model that is perceived as expensive, impacting ROI potential despite its functionality. Cisco DNA Center is also costly, justified mainly for larger enterprises due to its extensive features. Both solutions require substantial investment but can deliver good ROI when fully utilized in the right organizational context.
Although Cisco DNA Center is expensive, we have seen a return on investment in terms of time savings.
A patching process that used to take about two hours can now be done within a ten-minute window due to automation.
Being able to reduce the headcount to one user who is comfortable with the workload has probably been the biggest benefit and return on investment.
I have seen a return on investment with fewer staff needed and better productivity.
Overall, Cisco DNA Center rates eight out of ten as a complete solution.
I would rate Cisco support easily at nine out of ten.
The support for Cisco DNA Center is good.
I would rate the support team 10 out of 10.
I would rate the customer support a perfect 10.
The support response time can be slow, sometimes taking up to fifteen hours.
From my experience, we can easily manage numerous devices.
The solution is designed for large enterprise companies.
Once they're plugged in, they pick up all the configuration they need.
Sometimes the new features do not clearly indicate whether there is an additional cost associated with my licensing level.
If you have flexibility in your network design, expansion is very easy.
When we communicate problems, they solve them effectively.
I've never had Meraki Dashboard be offline or down.
We have not encountered any downtime related to the Meraki cloud feature in the last five years.
The network has been working for the past 2.5 years and is performing very well.
The AI-driven insights have contributed significantly to faster troubleshooting and predictive analytics.
The deployment part is definitely an area for improvement.
The client history in Cisco DNA Center can be longer than 10 days, perhaps extending to 15 or 20 days.
A backup feature for devices in Meraki, including a way to back up and export backups of devices from the portal.
AI capabilities present a significant opportunity for improvement for Meraki Dashboard as well; anything that has to do with incident and reporting needs a proactive approach, not just a reactive one.
There is a need for price reductions in developing countries, as the cost of Meraki is quite high.
If our organization were moving and we were prior customers of Cisco, we should receive a discount on our license because the licensing is very costly.
The cost of the Meraki solution is high, which may not be affordable for smaller companies, especially in developing countries.
If we involve a third-party vendor, the price will definitely go up.
The most valuable features include AI-driven insights which make troubleshooting much easier.
If there is a problem, I can inspect the situation and see what is happening, which is beneficial.
Meraki Dashboard positively impacts my organization by enabling live monitoring. If someone unplugs the power cable, if the switches are down, if there is an outage, or if there is any misconfiguration, we get an alert from Cisco in our mailbox.
Meraki Dashboard helps cut down on time because we're troubleshooting in a single pane of glass.
My teams incorporate AI assistant insights and root cause recommendations within Meraki Dashboard into our day-to-day triage workflows, making the AI assistant functionality in Meraki Dashboard one of our first go-to troubleshooting tools.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Meraki Dashboard | 0.8% |
| Cisco DNA Center | 0.7% |
| Other | 98.5% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 12 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 9 |
| Large Enterprise | 24 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 26 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 18 |
| Large Enterprise | 44 |
Cisco DNA Center delivers powerful centralized security, automation, and comprehensive analytics for enhanced network management. With an intuitive dashboard and integration with Cisco devices, it reduces errors, boosts efficiency, and ensures seamless wired and wireless network operations.
Organizations leverage Cisco DNA Center for network management and automation, offering increased visibility into traffic flows and efficient device provisioning. It supports real-time data transmission, network segmentation, and integrates with ISE. Features like wireless assurance, centralized management, and AI-driven insights into network health promote an efficient network environment while addressing compliance issues. However, improvements are necessary for better third-party integration, affordability, and more user-friendly documentation.
What are the solution's most important features?In industries like healthcare, finance, and education, Cisco DNA Center's advanced features facilitate the management of complex network infrastructures and aid in achieving compliance efficiently. Its ability to manage LANs and WLANs supports diverse networking environments including greenfield projects and SPN setups.
Meraki Dashboard offers intuitive, cloud-based network management, simplifying tasks with centralized control, real-time monitoring, and comprehensive security.
Offering ease of use and a single-pane-of-glass view, Meraki Dashboard enhances network management through centralized monitoring and configuration. Its intuitive interface allows remote device management, policy configuration, and real-time alerts. Cloud-based access provides scalability and automatic updates, while detailed analytics and security measures ensure robust control over networks. Though some users mention complexity in certain configurations and third-party integration gaps, its continuous improvement and network management efficiency accommodate extensive business requirements.
What are the Key Features of Meraki Dashboard?Enterprises deploy Meraki Dashboard for diverse network management purposes, including monitoring, access point deployment, security configuration, and VLAN and LAN management. In education, it provides centralized Wi-Fi management and ensures secure student access. Retail businesses utilize it for seamless device integration and analytics, while healthcare facilities employ its robust security and real-time monitoring to safeguard patient data and maintain network efficiency. Its cloud-based interface enhances control and visibility across numerous sites, simplifying management and configurations.
We monitor all Network Monitoring Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
